Reacher has just been granted an early season six renewal, before the fifth has even started – but there’s one novel that author Lee Child thinks it would be “impossible” to adapt.
The hit Prime Video series, which adapts Lee Child’s action novels, is currently on its fourth season, having tackled books Killing Floor, Bad Luck and Trouble, Persuader and Goes Tomorrow.
But according to Child, the series could never take on book 61 Hours, as he believes it would pose a logistical obstacle due to its snowy South Dakota location, which is integral to the plot.
“61 Hours I would love to see, but that sort of thing is impossible to make because it depends on snow,” he told Collider.
“You can’t plausibly shoot in snow because you’ve got this virgin, snow-covered landscape. You can only ever do take one. You need reliable snow, and then you can’t do multiple takes because there’ll be footprints all over the place. So that one’s probably not possible.”
The lead star of Alan Ritchson recently revealed that, before Persuader was selected as the inspiration for season three, he successfully lobbied for the writers to set their sights on Die Trying, the second Jack Reacher book Child ever written. According to the actor, though, plans changed when Trump won the 2024 US presidential election.
Ritchson made the claim when a fan on social media said they were disappointed that the book, in which the character takes on a white supremacist militia camp, has yet to be adapted by the series. In the book, a politician’s daughter is abducted by the radical militia and used as political leverage in their attempts to secede from the US and form a white-only state.
Reacher’s lead star called it his “favourite book” when replying to the fan on on Threads, and while he didn’t specifically name Trump, he added: “Fun fact: I had it approved until someone got re-elected.”
The Independent has contacted Prime Video for comment.
Since 1997, British author Child has written 30 novels focused on the hulking action hero and co-authored six with his sibling, Andrew Grant, before retiring and giving him full creative control of the best-selling series.
Despite the books co-written with Grant being a success, Child – real name James Grant – said that long-time Reacher fans have been “funny” about the development.
“They believe Reacher is their property and anybody who messes with him is messing with their thing,” he said in a new interview. “So there’s been a bit of grumpiness from some of the readers simply because something has changed. But other than that I think it’s been fairly seamless.”
